Greg Hardy is still in discussions with the NFLPA to determine whether they’ll challenge his four-game suspension, Rand Getlin of NFL.com tweets. We heard in mid-July that decision would be coming “any time now,” but more than two weeks later, things are still up in the air.
On July 10th, arbitrator Harold Henderson upheld Hardy’s suspension but slashed it from 10 games to four games. Early on in the process, we heard that Hardy and the NFLPA would fight a suspension of anything beyond two games, so it’s not a shock to hear that they’re considering further action. Hardy, they would likely reason, has already sat out a significant amount of time. The defensive end missed all but one game of the 2014 season with the Panthers.
For now, assuming Hardy accepts the four-game suspension, he’ll have the potential to earn up to about $10.628MM this season. The 26-year-old’s contract has a modest base salary, but features up to $9.25MM in per-game roster bonuses and about $1.8MM in incentives. By getting his penalty reduced from 10 games to four games, Hardy will have the opportunity to earn nearly $3.5MM in extra per-game roster bonuses.
As a refresher, Hardy allegedly assaulted and threatened to kill ex-girlfriend Nicole Holder in May of 2014. After being found guilty by a judge, Hardy was scheduled to get a jury trial, but due to a lack of cooperation by Holder, the charges against the defensive end were ultimately dismissed, as he reached a civil settlement with his accuser. While the case played out, Hardy spent the 2014 season on the commissioner’s exempt list for the Panthers, missing all but one game. The Cowboys signed Hardy earlier this offseason before word of his suspension broke, and a four-game ban is about what the team had initially expected.
How long exactly does Hardy plan on waiting before making a decision? The longer he waits, the less likely the case is to be resolved by Week 1. And if he seeks an injunction in order to play while the case is in court, it could end up backfiring if his suspension is upheld later in the year and he has to sit out four late-season games.